custom laptop

[Guest famusjupiter]

Hey everybody -

 

just thought i'd ask, because i think i'm gonna be coming into a bit of money for school stuff, which i'm gonna use to purchase a new laptop (no room for a desktop) -- for educational puropses, of course :)

 

if anybody has a couple minutes and has an opinion on what components would make a good gaming laptop (if that's possible, lol) -- unless anyone knows why something else would be better, I'm thinking of getting an AMD processor. I've got an A6 Vision right now, and it's very solid -- as long as AMD makes something a little more high end, though, i'll be in business.

 

Also I have absolutely no idea what sort of video card would be good, so if someone could enlighten me about that too....

 

--is it even possible to get a case and custom build a laptop? or just get a basic laptop and use the case? replace the insides with better stuff?

 

 

Any enlightenment on this stuff I'd be truly grateful for -- being in and below a certain income bracket, shall we say, I'm just now getting to where i can learn about this stuff, in my mid twenties :)

 

Anyways thank you for any and all input

 

-jupiter

[Guest Ret.Maj.Xander=US=]

--is it even possible to get a case and custom build a laptop? or just get a basic laptop and use the case? replace the insides with better stuff?

 

Not unless you plan to get your hands dirty and do some custom case modding (drilling/soldering/shaving/sawing). There are a few components you can get to "upgrade" a laptop like a new HD and more/better RAM. But when it comes to stuff like the CPU and GPU those aren't going to go anywhere and it would be a huge pain to install new parts (if you could even find any that would fit).

 

When it comes to laptop recommendations I will always say Macbook Pro's are by far the best laptop's out there overall. The quality of the hardware and laptop itself are unmatched, the support that comes with it is the best possible (Apple is known for the best customer service among all tech companies), not to mention how easy it is these days to install Windows/Linux on Mac laptops. But probably one of the best features of them is the longevity. Apple laptops normally last much longer than the average windows one, most of the credit is probably due to their unparalleled manufacturing process. But from personal experience with friends and family, Windows laptops just don't last as long for one reason or another. When I started college in 2006 I got a 1st Generation Macbook, by my last year all of my friends with Windows laptops had gotten new ones by then and all my friends with a Mac laptop including myself still had our original ones. I still use my Macbook as a media center in my bedroom to this day.

 

I've gotten a lot of "hate" for my Apple support so I'll understand if you feel the same as many others do. But I've never heard someone say "I regret buying my Mac laptop".

[Guest Tracz]

Well Clevo is a popular laptop mobo brand right now being used by Sager, Ibuypower and some others so maybe finding parts wouldn't be that hard.(If you really wanted to build your own.)

Or you could make a small LANBox(sometimes = or < a shoebox in size) and a portable 14" lcd panel with wireless keyboard/mouse.(Cheap and get a decent Laptop for school.)

[Guest famusjupiter]

You know, I can't believe I haven't considered Apple (thank you, mainstream marketing influences...), but I must say I've never talked to -anybody-, either, who has said anything even negative, really, about their Apple computer.

Not "wow I can't believe I wasted money on this crap, Apple just sucks so much", but not even so much as a "it's good, but I just wish it could do *insert whatever here* better" which is astonishing!

My aunt has had an Apple desktop of some sort for like five years now, which is an upgrade from her Apple desktop that she got back when Windows 95 was just getting hot :) lasted for like ten to fifteen years - but she was telling me that she did her research when she was looking into a new desktop and she found that Apple's technology is much better when it comes to processing, especially when it comes to processing stuff that it has to work with the video card to process - I.E. games, video, and other memory intensive visual utilities (like CAD programs even, I've heard).

I'll definitely do my research and consider it, absolutely -- especially because even though I would HAPPILY modify a case and put one together piece by piece, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna wanna do that with a desktop first, considering I've never done it before, before I even think about customizing a laptop :) Pretty sure that's a good decision on my part, lol

Thank you Major, sir, very much for the info - you won't be getting any 'hate' from me about being an Apple - liker -- heck, they're probably the most underrated 'creators of computing stuff' there IS out there!!

 

To Tracz, I'll definitely check out Clevo too, but I hate to say it: Apple might be hooking in another satisfied customer right now!

[Guest famusjupiter]

And Major, I think it's ironic how you pointed out that as a result of those dynamics AMD is like half or even a whole generation behind with it's computing capabilities -- i've got an AMD vision a6, like i was saying, and although i've gotta run bf3 on low settings, I can run Bad Company 2 on 'ultra' settings all day long!! Half Life, the original one, which I just started playing again, looks beautiful on my laptop -- i think it's funny that just as long as the game's at least three years old, my computer can eat it alive!!

[Guest Skulker]

Samsung Series 7 Gamer NP700G7C-S01US 17.3-Inch Laptop

[Guest miyamotogL]

+1 for Apple. My MBP 17 Mid-2009 is still going strong (built late August, almost 3 years). I just cannot get used to using Command instead of CTRL for shortcuts. Not being able to Maximize windows is also quite annoying. It is downright impossible to get Linux installed without some hardware problems. I understand that their target is the casual computer user, but throw us power users a bone and let us have some control over our really expensive computer. If I could get a Trackpoint rather than Trackpad and run Linux without hassles, I wouldn't buy anything else. If I didn't hate the living hell out of trackpads and didn't want to run Linux, I wouldn't buy anything else.

 

+ 1 for Lenovo Thinkpads. They make a good non-gaming alternative. A little cheaper, the next rung down in terms of quality and price. The graphics chips in these are not good for gaming, but they are workhorses for business/programming/linux. (Disclaimer: have had one of the new x230t's for a little over a month, and a t520 for over a year). Some program removal, task disabling, and service disabling to slim down their bloatware (IMO any software installed by an OEM on top of Windows that is not a driver is bloatware).

 

-1 for HP. You will spend hours upon hours uninstalling all the bloatware. We get these for work and it is a full-day (granted while doing something else while each program uninstalls) to get them ready for an employee.

 

-1 for Dell/Alienware. They are not what they used to be. Their big selling point was customer service ... epic fail. Same deal with the bloatware.

[Guest Ret.Maj.Xander=US=]

+1 for Apple. My MBP 17 Mid-2009 is still going strong (built late August, almost 3 years). I just cannot get used to using Command instead of CTRL for shortcuts. Not being able to Maximize windows is also quite annoying. It is downright impossible to get Linux installed without some hardware problems. I understand that their target is the casual computer user, but throw us power users a bone and let us have some control over our really expensive computer. If I could get a Trackpoint rather than Trackpad and run Linux without hassles, I wouldn't buy anything else. If I didn't hate the living hell out of trackpads and didn't want to run Linux, I wouldn't buy anything else.

 

 

I have my 2006 Macbook triple booting 10.6 (no lion for Core Duo :( ), Ubuntu 11.10, and Windows 7. Check out rEFIt it's awesome. I used Ubuntu a lot my senior year for my senior design project. Worked without any problems.

[Guest miyamotogL]

Sorry about the hijack but ...

 

Yeah I have rEFIt and have 11.10 installed. The trackpad (as much as I hate it) randomly stops working; have to power cycle to bring it back. To boot off live cd I need to set a special kernel flag in grub or else get graphics glitch when X starts (only thing I can do is hold power till it shuts off). Once I get it installed and get the Nvidia proprietary drivers installed, the flag can be removed. Even then there were performance issues (more than likely Unity but haven't put on 12.04 to see if that is any better). It is just not worth the effort compared to my Thinkpads (t43P, t520, x230t). On them, Ubuntu and Arch install without issue and all hardware works out of the box.

 

Lion feels sluggish compared to SL; you are not missing all that much IMO. Regardless, most of my time using the MBP was spent dual booted into Windows 7 (Visual Studio @ work). There were just too many things that nagged at me in OSX. It wasn't until after I got the t520 setup for work that I attempted Linux on it.

 

I agree that you cannot get better hardware than Apple. It is the "Negativity, in the Freedom Dimension" and the "Jobs knows better than me" attitudes that I do not like. Prime example: My first Mac, an early 2009 13" Aluminum Macbook (before they added it to the "Pro" lineup) was not allowed to dual boot 64bit Windows. Wait a minute, let that digest. No difference internally to the 15" and 17" Pro models and I cannot run 64bit? Because I am not "Pro"? Their $1800 computer with a CPU that supports 64bit and all the components have 64bit drivers, and they purposefully, maliciously blocked the installation of the Boot Camp software inside a 64bit Windows dual boot. Proof: the driver installers are on the disc, you just need to run them all manually one by one or use Orca to change the installer's configuration. What did I do? Sold it and bought the MBP 17"; I am a slow learner.

[Guest Midwestraxx]

Well the first question is what is your main use going to be? Gaming? Then look into Clevo/Asus/MSI(newer competitor in gaming, great stuff)/Alienware(if you have the extra dough). Photo/video editing? Dell/HP/macbook/gaming laptops. Everyday use? Dell/HP/Asus/lenovo/toshiba. Light everyday use? tablets/11" or smaller laptops/Bluetooth keyboard for phones. And strangely I actually have heard "I regret buying this Macbook" from plenty of people, since the interface and hardware are very restricted and the price tag for the same hardware range has an insane difference. Alienware has also risen in price over the years for name/looks.

 

I also have had past issues with AMD processors along with current friends who regret buying one, so I won't get too much into that.

 

However, if you really want to customize a laptop just for you, you can a) buy a customized one from resellers such as xoticpc.com (where I'm getting mine), powernotebooks.com, or malibal.com or b) buy a barebones package and components separately. Over the recent years laptops have actually greatly improved on being customizable and user friendly to upgrades, so you may actually find it to be easy!